New Shoes
I never posted the last thing I wrote because I thought I would either be labeled a heretic or given up for insane. So I’ll just post about something else for a change.
I like change, I like it a lot. I get bored easily with the status quo, and I like to mix things up when they get stagnate. I am also very nostalgic and sentimental though.
So when my Nike’s started to completely fall apart after many years of good service, I had mixed emotions. It sounded fun to seek out and buy a new pair of “athletic shoes,” but my Nike’s had some history.
During my time in Indy, I managed to come to a place of having no athletic shoes. I just didn’t get out enough. When I was in Chicago, I realized that I really had nothing to “play” in. So when I returned home “for good” I was aware that I had been without any shoes other than deck shoes and dress shoes for a few years.
One evening I was out with a good friend of mine, and she said that she needed shoes, and that there was a sale going on. She said I should buy shoes too. I was kind of hesitant. I hadn’t planned on buying shoes then, and it seemed like a lot of money. However, she was right, I did need them, and she could help me pick them out, which I was grateful for.
So we both bought shoes together. It was fun, and I had a pair of Nike’s.
That was about five years ago! My how life changes and stays the same. I wore those shoes day after day after day and even repaired them a few times to keep them going. I wore them all over the country, and for all sorts of activities. I got married, bought a house, had three children, and found a new church.
My friendship changed too. We went different ways, developed our own lives and saw less of each other. Then our lives diverged more and I rarely saw her. I always considered her a friend though. Then the last time I saw her, she did not want to see me. 
That was a real shock to me. I probably missed something really important somewhere, but I was very surprised.
Have you ever lost a friend before? I mean, had someone that was your friend not want to be your friend anymore? Maybe it is common, but I honestly haven’t had a huge number of friends, and I’ve never lost one that way before. I’ve lost contact due to physical distance. But to be in the same room with someone who used to be my friend, and now doesn’t want to see me anymore is very hard. I don’t know whose fault it was. Probably mine.
So I didn’t really want to leave behind my shoes, but I had to. I didn’t really want to leave behind a friendship, but maybe that isn’t my choice to make either. Maybe we wear out friendships sometimes too? (I did not say friends wear out, just the friendship.) Or maybe, just like shoes, I can damage a friendship unwittingly by misuse, even if I wasn’t aware of it until too late. Fortunately, I can pray for my friends, which I do. I don’t pray for my shoes. 
My new shoes are nice, but they don’t have any happy memories attached to them. Happy memories are probably the coolest feature of all.
